The Turkey Travels

Happy Thanksgiving 2010! We have much to be thankful for this year. We were able to make the trip up to Fargo to celebrate with Joe's family this year. It was the first holiday for all the cousins to gather which was really special!

Ellie looks pretty happy for having gotten into Fargo at 2:00 am the night before!!

Ellie in her Thanksgiving outfit (thanks, Nana D!!)

Huggin' cousins (Rosemary and Eleanor)

Jen's pies

Great Grandpa Tinguely enjoying some time with Eleanor Mae

Somebody had too much turkey!!

Happy Holidays from our pumpkin!!

Turning on the smile

Ellie has really learned to ham it up for the camera. It comes out and bam...instant smiles!! It's so ridiculously cute. Here are some of my favorites.

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween from our goblin! Ellie spent approximately 15 minutes in her costume...just enough time to snap way too many pictures. Here are some of our favorites.

GET ME OUT OF THIS COSTUME!!

Happy Fall!!

Hello from The Tinguelys!!

Joe and I celebrated our 13th "10/10 Day" or also known as "Jolly-O". We started celebrating this day back in 1998 because we couldn't remember when we started dating and, therefore, didn't have an official anniversary. We picked it because October is our favorite month and 10 is Jen's favorite number. We continue to celebrate it because our wedding anniversary is shared with Jen's birthday...it gives us a separate day to celebrate us. This year, we shared the celebration with someone very special...our daughter! We headed down to Newton Hills State Park and walked the trails. Lily even got to join in the celebration, although she spent most of the time choking on her collar/leash because she was pulling so hard. Here are some pictures of our day.

In other news, I am down to 3 weeks of medical school left (yeah!!) I have a 3-week OB/GYN rotation left which should be fun. I plan on spending November and December with Ellie and hopefully doing some interviews for residencies. What's not real clear is what I will be doing January thru July...probably panicking about our future plans. No, I will try and find some sort of job (perhaps the most over-qualified employee Barnes and Noble has ever seen!) Ellie is doing very well. She's still cute as ever and such a good baby...we're so fortunate! Here are some new pictures of our sweet little girl.

Guess who's sitting up!!

Well, better late than never!! Also, according to Jen's parents, they witnessed Ellie's first rollover from back to front. I guess she flipped over, decided it was a huge mistake (b/c she was now on her stomach, which she hates) and promptly flipped back over. Then, she started laughing. So cute!!

Ellie's Getting so Big!!!

Ellie had her 6-month check-up on Friday. She now weighs 17 lb, 14 oz which puts her at the 75th percentile. She is 27 inches long which is also at the 75th percentile. She is lagging a bit behind with her gross motor skills (she can't sit up on her own yet and is not rolling from back to front), but her doc said not to worry b/c it's pretty common with "laid-back" babies. She just doesn't have the drive to go get those toys that we entice her with across the room. We love having a calm and cool baby, but hopefully she starts moving around more soon. (Or should we just keep quiet and enjoy these days when we don't have to chase her all over the apartment?!)

She is eating all sorts of fruits and veggies now and is finally doing it in a highchair!! We decided it was time to get our act together and buy her one, and it arrived last week. Jen's dad helped put it together and we all love it! Some of her favorite foods are peas, green beans, Pink Lady apples and mango. We have a Beaba Babycook system, so Jen is cooking up anything she can think of. Here she is waiting patiently for her food.

In other news, Jen only has seven weeks of medical school left!! She has started receiving interview invites for residency programs. She's applied to programs in SD, MN, IA, CO, and MT. The list will grow, though, as Joe starts to hear about his possible job prospects. We are going to Boston between Christmas and New Years for the American Philosophical Association's annual conference and "job fair." Hopefully, Joe has a few interviews there. Life is certainly up in the air for us right now, but we're surviving. We've gotten used to this "we have no idea where we'll be in the next year" mentality. We'll make sure to keep you posted. Until then, take care!!

Joe's New Do

In preparation for his upcoming interviews (we hope!), Joe got his haircut. Here are some before and after pics.

Monster Eating Her Peas

This is Ellie's way of eating-any other parents out there can let us know if this is normal or not. We hope it's not.

Meeting Mom and Dad's Friends

Now that I have gone back to school, it seems the only entertainment we have is when people come through Sioux Falls to visit! Here are some pictures of Ellie meeting some of our friends.

Our best friends from the Cities were driving through on their to Rocky Mountain National Park. Here Ellie is meeting her future husband, William James.

Here Ellie is meeting another William. This is Becca Johnston's youngest child.

Kristen, my best friend from high school, came back to Sioux Falls to visit her parents. Kristen is always in the know about fashion and she brought Ellie this super cute outfit...apparently, nautical is all the rage in The Hamptons! Thanks for keeping us trendy, Kristen!!

Our friends and neighbors had their baby girl on August 1. Welcome to the world, Susanna Jade!! Susie has become Ellie's new BFF. Watch out fellow neighbors in the Gourley Building-there are two little girls on the loose!!

The Lakes Redux

Well, I just can't get enough of The Lakes! Ellie, Lily, and I headed back north for a Fourth of July celebration on Long Lake. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Happy Fourth of July!! Here Ellie is with Uncle Mark.

It's like she never really left.

Ready for a pontoon ride...not really. We're starting to get the impression that Ellie doesn't really like boat rides all that much. Cry, cry, cry.

Eleanor at 4.5 months old

Maybe next year she'll get to experience Mama Mae's amazing cooking!

Just a cute picture of our peanut

Before we headed to The Lakes, we were able to celebrate Pat Whitman's 60th birthday. It was super fun for me because I got to see our friends, Anne and John. They live in Brooklyn, NY, so we don't get to see them much anymore. Here we are with Anne and Pat.

The Tinguely's Take Over the Rockies

To celebrate Grandpa Tinguely's 80th birthday, the entire family gathered in Rocky Mountain National Park at the YMCA retreat center in Estes Park. Grandpa and Grandma Tinguely had 8 children. Those children multiplied and their kids (Joe and I are some of those kids) multiplied, so it was a pretty big affair! There was lots of eating, lots of card games played, and lots of catching up to do. Oh yeah, we got to go hiking, too! It was a wonderful vacation and we're so glad we were able to make the trip.

Four generations of Tinguely's

A very serious game of cribbage

Ellie was never in need of someone to hold her (sometimes, she even got two holders at once!)

Thanks for carrying me, Dad! I love hiking!!!

Yeah, Mom, you can carry me, too...that'll be just fine.

Can we come back here soon?

Cleaned up from our hike and ready to eat

This one's for you, Dave!